Maple Bowl from crouch wood

I was given several sections from the trunk of a 180+ year old Sugar Maple tree. This is a bowl I turned from a piece of crouch wood. As you can see from the block I mounted on the lathe, so could see some bark embedded in the this piece, but had no idea of the extend of it until I started working it.

Of course, the more I turned it the weaker it got. A sane person would have just taken it off and tossed it in the trash. Instead, I I wrapped the outside and duct tape and the pour some epoxy clear coat finish in and let it set up to give it some additional strength. Then I finished tuning the inside of the bowl.

I was able turn the outside a little more, but had to stop before I reached the shape I really wanted because it was losing structural integrity again.